The intervention of the former Archbishop of Canterbury is a dramatic
departure from the official line of the Church of England

Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, is supporting moves to legalise assisted dying, it has emerged.

His intervention is a dramatic breach with the official line of the Church of England. It comes days before the House of Lords considers a Bill tabled by Lord Falconer allowing doctors to prescribe terminally ill patients a lethal dose of drugs.

Lord Carey argues that upholding the sanctity of human life without regard to suffering caused in the process could go against the spirit of Christian teaching.

He will point to the fact that Christians already rely on the ethical principle of “double effect” to justify giving terminally ill patients doses of painkillers which will ultimately kill them.

In an article last night, he said that advancing medical technology posed a “ethical turning point” and he believed that showing mercy and dignity in death should be “enshrined in law”, adding: “The fact is that I have changed my mind. The old philosophical certainties have collapsed in the face of the reality of needless suffering.”

He said: "Today we face a central paradox. In strictly observing the sanctity of life, the Church could now actually be promoting anguish and pain, the very opposite of a Christian message of hope."

The former primate, who publicly championed traditionalist arguments on issues such as gay marriage, has previously spoken against relaxing the law on dying.

In the Lords in 2006, during a previous attempt to change the law, he warned that if assisting someone to end their life was allowed, it would soon be “treated as casually as abortion”. While many opponents of the proposal argue that Christianity forbids any assisted suicide, Lord Carey has been persuaded that the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” should not mean prolonging suffering.

The Church of England distanced itself from his position but Lord Falconer, the Labour former lord chancellor, said it demonstrated that the Church’s official opposition to the Bill was not necessarily representative of its wider membership.

It is understood that Lord Carey was moved by the case of Tony Nicklinson, the locked-in syndrome sufferer who fought a legal battle to be allowed to die, before starving himself.

The Bill would not have directly applied to Mr Nicklinson as he was not terminally ill but it is understood that his case prompted Lord Carey to reconsider the wider issue.

Last month, following a case brought by Mr Nicklinson’s widow, Jane, the Supreme Court urged Parliament to review the blanket ban on assisted dying or face possible intervention by the courts on human rights grounds.

Under Lord Falconer’s plan, modelled on the system in the US state of Oregon, doctors would be able to provide a fatal dose of drugs to patients judged to have less than six months to live. Patients would administer thesubstance themselves but could receive help if unable to do so. The process would require two doctors’ signatures.

Lord Falconer said: “The number of people who support this Bill is quite substantial even from practising and active members of the Church of England and also other churches such as the Roman Catholics as well as for example the Jewish community.

“The Anglican church at the very top, by which I have in mind the bishops in the House of Lords, has been quite opposed, but it has not been the feeling that they represent their congregations.”

Opponents of the Bill said they were “flabbergasted” at Lord Carey’s change of position. Dr Peter Saunders, of the Christian Medical Fellowship, said: “There is no biblical precedent or justification for compassionate killing.

“There is a world of difference – ethically, legally, philosophically and theologically – between helping someone to kill themselves with a lethal drug on the one hand and proportionate pain relief or withdrawal of meddlesome treatment on the other.” Bishop Michael Nazir Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, and a friend of Lord Carey, said: “We must not assume that we know when people are going to die. Lord Carey himself knows of individuals, that I also know of, who were given six months to live and lived for years afterwards.”

A spokesman for the Church of England said: “The Church of England is opposed to assisted suicide.” He said that the General Synod passed a motion in February 2012 which “expresses its support for the current law on assisted suicide as a mean of contributing to a just and compassionate society in which vulnerable people are protected”.

But writing in the Daily Mail, Lord Carey argued: "Until recently, I would have fiercely opposed Lord Falconer’s bill, following the traditional line of the Christian Church. I would have used the time-honoured argument that we should be devoting ourselves to care, not killing.

"I would have paraded all the usual concerns about the risks of “slippery slopes” and “state-sponsored euthanasia”.

"But those arguments which persuaded me in the past seem to lack power and authority when confronted with the experiences of those approaching a painful death.”

His comments were welcomed by Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, of Maidenhead Synagogue, Berks, who described them as “a breath of fresh air sweeping through rooms cloaked in theological dust that should have been dispersed long ago.”

He added: “There are many who have both a deep faith and a desire to see assisted dying legalised in Britain as an voluntary option for the terminally ill providing there are safeguards to protect the vulnerable.

“There are also a growing number of clergy like myself who are only too familiar with those dying in pain, who see nothing sacred in suffering and for whom a religious response means allowing them the option of assisted death if they so wish.

“George Carey deserves praise for being brave enough both to re-examine previous religious certainties and to propose new approaches more appropriate for a changing world.”